WASTE: The real cost of rubbish

It has been suggested that following North Tyneside Council’s change of weekly household bin collection to a two-week interval that council tax should be reduced accordingly.

There was also a recent letter from Jean McLaughlin, who told us about the yearly budget procedure.

Each year there are new limits, largely imposed by central government, which in recent years has cut the funding allocations progressively. Such funding is a major proportion of the council’s overall resources.

My less informed view is that all such services have to be paid for by taxation, local and/or national. All councils have had these government cuts.

The menace of our ever increasing amounts of rubbish is such that any saving of funds by going to a two-week interval for any bin collection is trivial enough for the real cost to everyone.

Large households and others with special circumstances will be subject to special arrangements by the councils, I understand.

As someone who tries to be environmentally aware, I find manufacturers’ practices and government regulation of them incomprehensible. Some plastic products and packaging carry official codes for recycling, such as “not yet allowed”.

The summer issue of Our North Tyneside magazine tells us about the new collection intervals. It also advises on this council’s own identification of recyclable items, indicating that some local contractors cannot take what other councils are able to.

I consider no piece of plastic is too small to be recycled and have carefully acted accordingly, even with stuff I pick up from pavements and greens.

The amount of all waste polluting land, sea and air is already enormous.